A plague hospital in Vienna, 1679
(Source: Wikipedia)
Engraving of the Sack of Magdeburg by Matthäus Merian
The Sack of Magdeburg (German: Magdeburgs Opfergang or German: Magdeburger Hochzeit) refers to the siege and subsequent plundering of the largely Protestant city of Magdeburg by the forces of the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic League during the Thirty Years’ War. The siege lasted from November 1630 until 20 May 1631.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Gustavus Adolphus in the Battle of Breitenfeld, 1631
The Battle of Breitenfeld (German: Schlacht bei Breitenfeld; Swedish: Slaget vid Breitenfeld) or First Battle of Breitenfeld (sometimes First Breitenfeld and in older texts Battle of Leipzig), was fought at the crossroads villages of Breitenfeld, Podelwitz, and Seehausen, approximately five miles northwest of the walled city of Leipzig on September 17 (new style, or Gregorian dating), or September 7 (by the older Julian calendar, in wide use at the time), 1631. Breitenfeld represented the Protestants’ first major victory of the Thirty Years War.
Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of India, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km². The Marathas are credited for ending the Mughal rule in India. Shivaji Bhosale was the founder of the Maratha Empire. An aristocrat of the Bhosle Maratha clan, Shivaji led a resistance against the Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur and the Mughal Empire and established a Hindavi Swarajya (“self-rule of Hindu people”). He created an independent Maratha kingdom with Raigad as its capital, and was crowned Chhatrapati (“paramount sovereign”) of the Marathas in 1674.
Winstanley’s Lighthouse, c. 1860
The first lighthouse on Eddystone Rocks was an octagonal wooden structure built by Henry Winstanley. Construction started in 1696 and the light was lit on 14 November 1698. During construction, a French privateer took Winstanley prisoner, causing Louis XIV to order his release with the words “France is at war with England, not with humanity”. The lighthouse survived its first winter but was in need of repair, and was subsequently changed to a dodecagonal (12 sided) stone clad exterior on a timber framed construction with an octagonal top section as can be seen in the later drawings or paintings, one of which is to the left. This gives rise to the claims that there have been five lighthouses on Eddystone Rock. Winstanley’s tower lasted until the Great Storm of 1703 erased almost all trace on 27 November. Winstanley was on the lighthouse, completing additions to the structure. No trace was found of him, or of the other five men in the lighthouse. The cost of construction and five years’ maintenance totalled £7,814 7s.6d, during which time dues totalling £4,721 19s.3d had been collected at one penny per ton from passing vessels.
Levellers’ Manifest of 1649
An Agreement of the People was a series of manifestos, published between 1647 and 1649, for constitutional changes to the English state. Several versions of the Agreement were published, each adapted to address not only broad concerns but also specific issues during the fast changing revolutionary political environment of those years. The Agreements of the People have been most associated as the manifestos of the Levellers but were also published by the Agitators and the General Council of the New Model Army.
